NASA is soliciting another round of CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) applications. The agency is inviting accredited education institutions, nonprofit organizations, and NASA centers to join the adventure and challenge of space while helping it to achieve its exploration goals. Many research CubeSats launched as part of the CSLI have carried Amateur Radio payloads. Applications are due by November 22.

The CSLI provides CubeSat developers with a low-cost pathway to space, in order to conduct research that advances NASA's strategic goals in the areas of science, exploration, technology development, education, and operations. The initiative provides students, teachers, and faculty members with a chance to get hands-on flight hardware development experience by designing, building, and operating these small research satellites. NASA will announce its selections by February 17, although selection does not guarantee a launch opportunity.

Selected experiments are considered auxiliary payloads on NASA launches or for International Space Station deployment starting next year and continuing through 2020. Selected organizations are responsible for funding the development of their CubeSats. To date, NASA has chosen 119 CubeSat missions, and 46 of those have gone on to launch; another 29 are set to launch within the next 12 months.

For this round of the initiative, NASA is particularly interested in participation from organizations in the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and 18 states not previously selected. These include Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming.

The NASA website offers more information on the CSLI. — Thanks to NASA